Book Review: Burnout by Hannah Proctor
We are seeing and are actively involved in a recent up-tick of political activity, most noticeably the widespread, and thus-far sustained mobilisations in support of Palestine. Many new people are being drawn into political activity through marches and through organising activity including educational forums, direct disruptive action, building student and worker action groups, social media […]
Say No to AUKUS
In this piece I’ll be examining AUKUS and how it relates to, and is a product of, the system that the working class of the world currently suffers under. I’ll also be touching on some larger topics such as China, the relevance of AUKUS to us here in Aotearoa, and the big question – What […]
Jim Edwards, the Communist Party of New Zealand, and unemployment struggles in the 1930s
James Henry Edwards arrested in Norfolk Street after an Anti-Eviction occupation, 1931. The history of the Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) is worth knowing. Although the Party was never more than small, it was the largest and most influential political formation there had been to the left of the Labour Party until the short-lived […]
Cost of Living, Interest Rates, and Now Jobs Cuts
On 10 April the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand agreed to hold the overnight interest rate, known as the Official Cash Rate (OCR), at 5.5 percent. The knock-on effect on retail borrowing will be the persistence of high interest rates. For example, Westpac offers a 2-year fixed mortgage rate of […]
The Unemployed: Cheap Labour On Tap
There’s an old Kiwi joke that in the 1950s unemployment was so low, down to a mere few dozen individuals, that the Minister of Labour knew the name of every person collecting the dole. In those days, Government policy had an eye towards the full employment of the working class. Today, state institutions refer instead […]
A ko te Alienation
Ko te mōrirorirotanga tenei kupu Ingarihi, te Alienation. Āta whakaaro mo te kaupapa o nga pāpori ka noho ai tatou. Ngā ahuatanga o te whakaputa rawa, tuariari mea, ngā aha e hiahia, e tino matea e tatou. Ka ahu mai ēnei mea mai te whenua, ngā taputapu mahi, ngā rawa katoa. Koinei ka whakaingoa hai […]
Why we stand for Palestine
Solidarity According to the Gaza health ministry, Reuters reported on 16 October, at least 2,750 Palestinians had been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since 7 October. By the time of writing, the death toll was much more. Before this latest round of bombs and death most of Gaza’s […]
Vote Green or Te Pāti Māori, and Build a Socialist Alternative
The International Socialist Organisation’s position on the general election, in line with a decision at a membership conference, is summed up in the slogan: ‘Keep National Out, and Build a Socialist Alternative.’ The implication is to give the party vote to Labour, the Greens or Te Pāti Māori. In this opinion piece Grant Brookes puts […]
Israel is the Aggressor
In the midst of a civilian massacre perpetrated by Israel in response to Hamas’ jailbreak out of Gaza, western media responses have focused solely on Israel’s right to defend itself against all those it labels as terrorists. The deeply irresponsible reporting of the imperialist core such as AP News and BBC may present an alternative […]
Five things to remember when Israel ‘defends itself’
Whenever the “international community” starts talking about Israel’s right to self-defence, Palestinian civilians head to the bomb shelters. Or they would, if they had any—the Israeli government prevents the Gaza Strip from importing the necessary construction materials. During Israeli bombardments, Gazans might try sheltering in UN-run schools, but Israel blows them up and kills the […]
